Many of us have been there. You find a nest, you look inside, and there huddled amid the grasses, vines and twigs are small nearly naked nestlings. Maybe the nest isn’t familiar, or soon as you realize it is occupied you get out as fast as you can so as to not disturb.. but later when reviewing some photographs you begin to wonder who is was in the nest?  Or maybe you are a wildlife rehabilitator, and someone calls your team with a baby bird, separated from their kin and they aren’t sure what to do next?

It can be really hard to identify a baby bird, and that can be problematic in trying to identify the exact care needs the bird requires to flourish. Some birds may only feed their nestlings seeds, where as others require insects. Identification is key to the survival of many of the species of birds found across North America/Turtle Island every year. There are few resources and fewer accessible texts outside of academia to turn to, but with Linda Tuttle-Adam’s new book “Baby Bird Identification - A North American Guide” things just got easier.

This weeks show Linda and I spoke about her motivations for the book, some nestling identification clues to get started with, and some general nestling ecology. She reminded me a couple of times of the role of wildlife rehabilitators as agents of conservation, doing the work that may allow an individual member of a potentially threatened species to reach independence and, hopefully, to reproduce.

Thanks again, Linda!

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